Is it just me, or does VGC get the short end of the stick?

I can't help but notice that whenever I look for pokemon events using the locator on the pokemon website, I never find any VG-only events, and any league which says they do 'both TCG and VG' seem to be lying, because whenever I attend said leagues all I find are people interested in playing the card game. People don't even bother to bring their DS. I like the card game and all, but this really annoys me >.>

It seems like Regionals/Nationals/Worlds are the only events I find where you can actually play competitively face-to-face with someone, which I like because not only are you building more of a relationship, you don't run into communication errors wifi seems to love putting me through. Plus tournaments just seem easier to organize in-person.

I even thought of starting my own league, though I am still debating where id hold it, but the form to start one seems to have no mention of the video game, aside from the drop down menu that asks you if the league is gonna be TCG/TCG&VG/VG only. The questions following are like "Does this venue sell the pokemon TCG?" and "Why do you want to start a pokemon TCG league?"

Im assuming that the lack of video game support might be because the metagame might be a bit more confusing to understand, and that cards may make nintendo more money since you almost constantly need to be buying them, but that dosn't seem to be a reason to have no video game leagues.

Nintendo does favor the card game more, which is pretty fucking clear. I mean, shit, have you seen the prizes they get for winning? The reason for this is that they make a lot more money off of TCG. I mean, to make a good deck, you have to pay a lot more than 60 bucks, and even more to make it adaptable.

Nintendo doesn't run leagues, regular people (normally card shop owners) do. If you want local video game events, it's up to you to step up and make it happen. VGC becoming more local is something that happened just this year. Its our hope that we get State / Provincial tournaments next year and that eventually we'll have all the same premiere events that the TCG has. However, that doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen without some grassroots support. If you want VGC to be bigger, talk to your local league leaders and Pokemon Tournament Organizers.

We're slowly moving in that direction, though. I know for a fact that many leagues and prereleases are starting to hold local tournaments, and such. You should talk to your local league leader about setting stuff up. At my league, there's a fair amount of people that play VGC.

As for premier tournaments, we should be moving in that direction next year. With the introduction of Play! Points and Championship Points, the VG system may receive a complete overhaul in the future and focus more on the smaller tournaments just like TCG.

Its actually 1 D or P + 1 Plt + 1 HG or SS + 1 B or W + likely 1 B2 or W2 = $160 over 6 years because yo always need the newest game to compete, but yes its a lot less money flowing in than the TCG for competitive purposes.

I don't think we can complain TOO much, these events are free for us to play in, let's not forget that. The VG won't bring in as many pennies though, of course it's supported less. It's obviously in a transistional year or two right now though, where they're changing the format around. Probably worth waiting and seeing where they take it before getting too annoyed.

And you get a much better deal in the US, with way more official tourneys/league for both VGC and TCG than we do over here in the EU, be grateful for that.

I would love it if local TCG leagues had VGC tournaments. It would also be nice, as stated, if they didn't lie and not really have any support for the Video Game at leagues where they supposedly did both. That has happened to me twice in New York, I gave up because it just became a waste of time to keep looking. Even if it wasn't for nearly the prizes TCG offers, the practice would be a great oppurtunity.

Support does not imply players. The league supports VGC as in it will give you league rewards and help teach newer players the rules. This does not mean that they will have players for you to play against. League leaders and ptos can't really do anything about no vgc players showing up, that's on yall.

I agree with Alaka here. I know with my tournament at prerelease we didn't even get enough for it to be official. The coordinator of the event really tried to get 8 people, but it didn't work, so it's not out of lack of trying on their part. TCG players have more incentive to go since it's harder to get TCG practice online than it is with VGC (at least that's how it is for me). It's actually a lot more fun to play TCG irl because you can talk to your opponent and they don't mind. The social aspect of TCG is great, so leagues tend to be more successful when they have TCG stuff. If you want a more active VG league then take it into your own hands and help it get started.

I actually don't understand how VGC gets the short end of the stick, we pay far less than TCG players so we don't really deserve to have as many prizes. (The bdif have cards that cost as much if not more than the game cart and most decks need multiples.) TPCi has been trying to put a lot more time into VGC and I think they're doing a great job with what they have.

We've got a fair amount of people in our area who play VGC Alaka, wouldn't hurt to try and step it up a bit. David just isn't really into VGC. o.o

I'll say that they have been stepping up to the plate for VGC though, each year things have been getting better and better. We need to solidify our IRL crowd for it to be worth TPCi getting more involved.

That being said, I heard they were having 15 events next year for VGC. Sounds like progress to me.

it's no surprise that TCG has more funding and support toward all their live-event endeavors - it's just more popular. i'm always floored by the number of people i see show up to nationals for the TCG, they basically dominate the area. i am happy that VGC is garnering more and more interest from players that would like to attend events, but it's a slow process. TCPI and co can only accommodate events with known numbers for attendees, and similarly, can only justify prizes by population interest. TCG is always going to be more affordable because the game itself draws in a much bigger and faster cash flow than VGC. basically reiterating everything people have already said itt!!

i know everyone gets all hot and bothered when the prizes aren't what we might have expected (although invites are free, so that bugs me) but i doubt most of us wanted to attend live events just to reap rewards. if things got any worse in the coming years, it would probably deter me to work as hard at making an awesome team, but it sure wouldn't stop me from going to hang out with all my friends!

The games sell millions of copies each, and very few people who buy the video games actually attend VGCs. B/W collectively sold 12 million copies, 1 million of those on the first day of release in the US, which is on par with the average AAA game. The way people are talking, Pokemon is some sort of niche game. Assuming a modest 400 people total attendance for VGCs at a given event, TPCi made $14,000 out of something required for entry. Pokemon TCG is not even sold at a lot of card/tabletop gaming shops, I more commonly see it at toy stores and places like Target. I kind of call bullshit on the revenue bit, at least unless I see the comparison of earnings.

I also disagree with the merchandising bit. VGC players collect other merchandise such as plushies, Pokemon Center stuff, etc. To have TCG-related prizes offered and being constantly goaded to participate in them is kind of insulting. Again, I mainly go for the social experience and I have yet to actually win prizes, but the disparity is unfair and dumb.